Your brand is like your underwear. Sometimes you have to change it up.
You may not realize this, but things change. Life goes on, time passes, stuff happens, and you can never step in the same river twice. I know, it’s shocking. But get over it so we can get to the listicle.
Consider this dude:
Once upon a time in the 70s, this guy had it all going on. Just look at that confident smile beneath the cool hairdo, manly mustache, and those groovy duds. It’s a safe bet that he doesn’t dress like this today because he would look like a total dork.
This is what time does to us. It’s sad and tragic. But we are not here to be weepy and existential. We’re here to brand.
If this dude were a brand, he would be sorely in need of a brand refresh. Otherwise, his brand would be dork. You may laugh, but YOUR brand works the same way. Are you gonna let time turn you into a dork?
I DON’T WANT TO LOOK LIKE A DORK
Understandably, no one wants to look like a dork. That’s where a brand refresh comes in.
A brand refresh requires taking a long, hard look in the mirror. You have to honestly assess and audit your brand. And just like looking at your growing paunch or greying temples, it can be quite difficult.
But it is essential to keeping your brand relevant, as well as avoiding dorkhood.
Before we get to the listicle, I should probably be clear that we are not talking about your logo. We’re talking about your brand. That may include your logo, but it also includes everything else that people know about you brand. That is: how you talk to your customers, what you talk about, your customer service, number of locations, pricing, and even where you advertise. If you use an annoying talking mule as your brand mascot, then you can chuck that on the pile, too.
Now, on to the listicle!
ONE: BRAND REFRESH TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Your customers don’t really belong to you. If they did, it would be called slavery and this article would be irrelevant. Instead, you have to keep luring them back by keeping up with their needs. For example, you might see your website as a comfortable, familiar chair to curl up in, but your customers just see a ratty old site that says to them “WE DON’T CARE ENOUGH ABOUT YOU TO UPDATE THIS.” That’s probably not a message you want to convey.
TWO: BRAND REFRESH TO ATTRACT BETTER EMPLOYEES
The people who work for you want to believe they have a future. No, they didn’t tell me so, but it’s a safe bet that if your brand appears on the decline, your employees will be despondent and full of creeping despair. That’s bad enough, but even worse is the fact that it will be hard to find decent replacements for them when they start leaving to pursue a career in philosophy.
THREE: BRAND REFRESH TO CHARGE PREMIUM PRICES
Quality matters, except when it doesn’t. If you’ve ever paid 7 bucks for a cup of coffee at a fancy coffee house, then you probably realize that you’re paying mostly for the brand. After all, it’s not like the coffee beans are hand-picked by albino dwarves in the mountains of Tibet, the brand just makes you feel like they are. For $7 a cup, they could probably serve you hot dishwater and you would still feel special while drinking it.
FOUR: BRAND REFRESH TO GAIN ATTENTION
One of the tactics creatures in the wild use to avoid being eaten by predators is to camouflage themselves by remaining perfectly still. This is also true of your brand, except the predators are your customers. Doing nothing is a great way to not be seen, whereas brands in motion command consumer attention. If your brand is having trouble finding something to say to consumers, it’s probably time to start refreshing.
FIVE: BRAND REFRESH TO GET PEOPLE TALKING
Word-of-mouth has always been a powerful means of gaining customers. And it’s even more important today, where people like to brag about things like their new oven cleaner on social media platforms. This is the kind of advertising money cannot buy (or at least it looks that way to your customers). Not only does refreshing your brand give you something to say, it also gives your customers something to talk about other than their new oven cleaner.
SIX: BRAND REFRESH FOR FUN AND PROFIT
Business is about survival of the fittest. And I’m not just saying that because I’m fond of wildlife analogies (see #4 above). It’s just a true fact that strong brands make more money than weak ones. Not only can potent brands charge more for the same goods/services (see #3 above), but they also tend to attract more customers (#4 & #5 above). You want a kickass brand because you want more sales and revenue and profit. Those things are fun.
Assuming you also think making more money is fun, it’s likely you’re growing pretty interested in discovering how to refresh YOUR brand. And that’s great, because it sets up this article’s obligatory DAMN GOOD agency pitch. Here goes:
Don’t let your brand be a dork. Talk to the insanely creative folks at DAMN GOOD today about a brand refresh. Do it!
